1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to error correction of 3D images and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for correcting errors of multiple stream-based 3D images.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Recently, demands for 3 dimension (3D) images such as stereoscopic images and multi-viewpoint images are increasing among users, and the technology of 3D stereoscopic movie and 3D broadcasting is rapidly developing. In the case of 3D broadcasting technology, compatibility with existing broadcasting environment is essential and, for this purpose, methods for outputting multiple stream-based stereoscopic images have been developed.
The dual stream-based 3D TV can be an example in which the method of outputting multiple stream-based 3D image is applied. In the case of dual stream-based 3D TV, the image from the reference viewpoint (hereinafter, ‘reference image’) is encoded with MPEG-2 compression codec, which is used in conventional ground wave DTV (digital TV), and is output in the format of basic stream, while the image from the additional viewpoint (hereinafter, ‘additional image’) is encoded with high efficiency compression codec such as H.264, which shows high compression rate, and is output in the format of basic stream. The basic stream for the reference image and the basic stream for the additional image are multiplexed and transmitted in the format of transmission stream, and a receiving terminal receives the stream and performs decoding and synchronization to output the final 3D image.
In the case of multiple stream-based 3D image output method described above, images for some viewpoint can be broken when bit errors occur at the time of transmitting the transmission stream, causing problems in displaying the stereoscopic images in the receiving terminals. Especially, when bit error occurs while transmitting a transmission stream in stereoscopic 3D TVs of dual stream type which use different codecs, the chances of errors are higher in reference images which have larger data rates due to MPEG-2 encoding compared to the chances of errors in additional images which are encoded with high efficiency compression codec such as H.264. For this reason, errors are more prone to reference viewpoint images, reducing the quality of stereoscopic image.